LM86 on ALIX.3D3
The schematics of the ALIX.3D3 mention a temperature sensors LM86 on page 2 which external sensors pins are connected to the TDP/TDN pins of the Geode LX800 CPU. So this sensor should be able to measure CPU and mainboard temperature.
The LM86 ist connected by the SMBus (which is compatible to I²C if bus speed is below 100kHz, see Maxim's Appnote for detailed comparison) via the AMD CS5536 Geode companion. Continue reading
The AMD CS5536 Geode companion on the ALIX.3D3 board has an internal watchdog, beeing able to reboot the system by itself if it's hangup. To use this watchdog device, kernel support is needed. In kernel 2.6.29 you have to enable
Device Drivers ---> [*] Watchdog Timer Support ---> [*] Disable watchdog shutdown on close <*> AMD Geode CS5535/CS5536 Watchdog
for beeing able to use the watchdog timer. The Disable watchdog shutdown on close is optional. Usually if the watchdog program terminates it tell's the kernel to disable the watchdog and the kernel does. With this option you can prevent the kernel from disabling the watchdog. Continue reading
A few days ago, I ordered a new hardware gadget to play with: An embedded pc board called ALIX.3D3 manufactered by PC Engines.
ALIX.3D3 upside
It's a small (100 x 160 mm) board, with
More information, datasheets and manual can be found in the Alix Wiki.
I ordered the board from Varia Store for about 130€ including an aluminium chassis and a suitable power supply.
ALIX.3D3 downside
Challenges are now to install an optimized Gentoo on a Compact-Flash card with support for all hardware included, installing a 802.11b/g/n WLAN card and doing some tests with my Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000.